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Friday, July 18, 2014

Sex Tape

Review by Grace Snyder

It's easy to guess that a film titled SEX TAPEwill contain a lot of sex, and in fact director Jase Kasdan's film is centered around the sacred act of passion. Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Segel- who also co-penned the film) met in college. Their time at school was spent getting busy anywhere they could: the library, the car, even the middle of campus. Their spark never seems to dim. That is until Jay gets Annie pregnant.

Fast-forward ten years and Annie is writing about her past sex-capades, and lack of recent, in her blog. Jay and Annie now have two children and to-do lists that have no end. It is safe to say that the sexual antics of their youth have died down substantially. With Jay working long hours, Annie taking care of the kids, and her potential new blogging job; there simply isn't time or energy.

After receiving good news about her blog, Annie decides that she and Jay should celebrate in a way that will make them both happy: sex. However, it is easier said than done. Roller skates, awkward moments and a bottle of tequila later; Annie and Jay are making a sex tape demonstrating the moves found in a book titled "The Joy of Sex."

The night is pure, exhausting bliss and Jay promises Annie that he will delete the video the next morning. In the most predictable outcome of the century, Jay forgets to erase the video. Quite the shocker, but, he accidentally goes one step further by syncing a copy of the video to his "cloud." This cloud includes every person he has gifted a hand-me-down iPad. His son, his mother-in-law, his best friend, the mailman and horrifyingly enough, Annie's future employer.

What evolves is a chaotic and sometimes vapid quest to erase the video from every iPad. The couple instantly jumps in a car with intent to find and destroy every copy of the video. Right off the bat this mission seems utterly ridiculous. One would think the first thing to do would be research to see if it was possible to erase the video from a master computer. However, that wouldn't make for an exciting movie.

Despite the absurd antics taken by Annie and Jay (snorting cocaine, fighting a German Shepard), the film does provide a good deal of laughs. Segel and Diaz have a natural repartee on screen that comes across well to viewers. It is unfortunate that they were provided with a plot so dense as they make a great comedic pair.

Arguably the funniest scenes in the film feature Rob Lowe as Hank, Annie's future employer. Lowe portrays the odd, Disney-obsessed, cocaine-blowing character with ease. His cameo is sweeter than sliced pineapple, which happens to be his favorite snack.

Overall, SEX TAPE, like most homemade films, is rather mediocre. There are laughs here and there, but in the end, Annie and Jay's adventure come off as daft and disorderly despite Diaz and Segel's efforts. 2 out of 4 stars.